Town approves fire protection contract

The Skaneateles Town Board held a short meeting Thursday, Dec. 6, with little more than general business to attend to.

The major item on the agenda was a public hearing on the Skaneateles Fire Protection Contract. The contract, signed by both the village and town boards, provides fire protection for both municipalities, and both entities pay a share of the cost. The town pays approximately 60 percent of fire department operating expenses while the village pays the remaining 40 percent.

The annual town contract is for $220,458 in general funding and $77,160 in equipment allocations. This is about $1,000 less than the 2012 contract, said Town Supervisor Terri Roney.

The public hearing had no public comments, and Skaneateles Fire Chief Eric Sell was the only person in the audience. The board voted unanimously to approve the contract.

The Skaneateles Village Board approved its part of the fire protection contract at its Nov. 29 meeting.

The town board, also at its Dec. 6 meeting, approved a $114,000, five-year lease with First Niagara Bank for a Gradall excavator for the Town Highway Department. The town will pay $24,864 in yearly payments, at a 2.96 percent interest rate, making the total town outlay for the Gradall $124,320.

The board also scheduled a special meeting for 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 27, in the town hall for its annual organizational meeting.

One issue not discussed by the town board on Dec. 6 was the status of its negotiations with the Skaneateles Recreation Charitable Trust over ownership of YMCA assets, which had been a hoped-for topic.

The town filed suit against the SRCT in state supreme court in October, and attorneys for both parties met behind closed doors for more than an hour with a state supreme court judge in mid-November in an attempt to reach a settlement.

Town Attorney Patrick Sardino told the board at its Nov. 16 meeting he anticipated receipt of a formal proposal from the SRCT to conclude the disagreement in the “near future,” and hoped for an agreement and a resolution for the town board to vote on by the board’s Dec. 6 regular meeting.

There was resolution for the board at its recent meeting.

“We’re dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,” Sardino said. “The judge gave us a basic framework and we’re trying to fill in the blanks.”

Sardino had no estimate as to when an agreement and therefore a resolution to the issue might occur.

Jason Emerson is editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at editor@skaneatelespress.com.